Machine for breaking or tearing into lengths hemp, fiber, and the like



Sept. 7,192 6. 1,599,239

J. KNOX MACHINE FOR BREAKING OR TEARING INTO LENGTHS HEMP, FIBER, AND THE LIKE F d March 2 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 9, Sept. 7 1926. 1,599,239

J. KNOX MACHINE FOR BREAKING OR TEARING INTO LENGTHS HEMP, FIBER, AND THE LIKE Filed March 2. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. KNOX MACHINE FOR BREAKING 0R TEARING INTO LENGTH S HEMP, FIBER, AND THE LIKE I Filed March 2, 192 5 5 She ets-Sheet s Sept. 7, 1926. 1,599,239

J. KNOX MACHINE FOR BREAKING OR TEARING INTO LENGTHS HEMP, FIBER, AND THE LIKE Filed Max ch 2 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept. 7 1926;

J.KNOX

MACHINE FOR BREAKING 0R TEARING' INTO LENGTHS HEMP, FIBER, AND THE LIKE Filed March 2, 1925 s Sheets-Sheet 5 f Patented Sept. 7, 1926.

- AMA mums nox, OF bALiaYysoowiiAimf,

invention comprises improvements in I ir'elz' t ng to machme'sfor breaking or tea 11 hto lengths hemo fibelLOl st1 1ok,es

itis ter necli and the Ivly iii entionghas PZII UCQIELI iIGfQI'QIlCG tO mafchme's for th1s; purpose embody ng .ftwo

termittelit motion is obtained." '1 2 FA further object. oftfijn'y invention is to provide i hiproveiherfts whereby th' leiigth of the torn or broken pieces of fibeiie'z'i be filtre'clfstlsirdi ,Q I 1X still ff urth ei object of my invention is 7 to fpioviCle-ii compaotmachihe for the p ui' fiose set fofthj 5 Aoeoi'cl'ihgto my invention, in'a machine of thetyp set forth, the-me group of rollers is arranged to "be "continuously jdriveii ;fend

theothe'1"group is driven "by". means of an; H i h 4 v U M be ng mouht 'ecl 111' bear ngxhlopksf capable of endless flexible clriveffoi' example a, chain, afranged to be "Continuously, jclriiieri and to intermittently act to" cliiiiethe' seco ndfgroup of roll'efs; mezu s being provided to positively 'st op the rotation oftheletter' When not being driven] v V f 'i 2 'Tlfee'ndless' fi'exihle drive'is ponveniently in the fofinof 'zinencllessiohain havihga projection 0r projections" arranged to inter- Ini'ttently (Jo-act With 'a star Wheel of star Wheels, Which latter tiansmit its motion to the intermittently-driven rollers.

A 'featuieof my inventionkohsists in providing adjustable idle sprocket ivheels, jockey Wheels or the like whereby the-said projection or i'aro'j'ectidns "ca'n be made to co-a'et with the'sfltar 'wheel to agreat er or less extent ah'cl bythis means the eiitent of the rotation of said intermittently *di'ive'n rollers, ficl-thefefore zilso the len gth offiber hiokh"..of toifh}altered as "desired;

\ shaft I Tellers."

eeeem w i we? we?) -l v i h my. i i tio'n may be pfoperlffl uhtle 'stood I lihave' {hiereuiito appended five eiiplzinitoiyi sheet-sot drawings illustrating a pref fFigures 5 l and e sfie otively ele- Tedreferred ensue euvery rouersgpm rise if the tensionof {63h he"reguletetl 'hy ithe serevfs 1Z Extending" between; the g b es 0, 0 v, 'iiealr thefoot thereofpis thefpower s haftie pi'o iiicled with' the'fest iricl loose pulleys Q 5 6 "Seoured on-this shaft is aispun whe l fgjsee FFigureQ, wirhi'ch Ip'eshes withspur-" heel f 'iiiouhtedjon' stud ft; On thespur Wheel Also secured on 'the shaft of this roller shaft of {Oh the: h

515s a midi 6 the smaller iroll'eis idle sprocketor jockey wheel a and in the radial slot m is a similar wheel m An endless chain 0, see Figures 1 and 7, passes over the sprocket wheels is, k and idle wheels 02 and m.

A. spur wheel 79, see Figure 2, is secured to the shaft of the central roller 6 and with which mesh the two spur wheels 129 p on the shaft of the other two rollers of the group.

Two projections V g are provided on the chain 0 and which arearranged to co-act r 7, intermittently co-act with the star wheels Z, Z and impart a partial rotation thereto and therefore to the central roller 2) of the feed rollers and through the spur wheels p, 79 10 also drive the smaller rollers 6 b of the group. j I i An endless band 1, see Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 supportedbetween the side frames 00, to

which guide plates wt are secured is provided 'to feed the material to the intermittently driven or feed rollers and a similar endless .band 8 provided to deliver the broken or 'torn strick. Band '1' is drivenby means of a chain 1, see Figure 2, passing over a sprocket wheel r on the shaft of the roller b and over sprocket wheel 'r secured on the inner roller over which said band passes. r is a sprocket wheel driven by said chain 'r' and secured on the spindle of a guide roller 1*.

An adjustable jockey sprocket wheel 1 is provided for the .chain 1' Likewise the delivery band 8 supported between the side frames 00 is driven by ,means of a chain a, see Figure 1, passing over the. sprocket wheel 8 secured tothe shaft of roller a, idle sprocket jockey wheel 8 and sprocket wheel 3 on the inner roller of the deliverybelt.

It will be noted that the delivery band is thereby constantly driven and feed band intermittently driven.

Aloosely mounted feed roller t, carried between the frames w see Figures 3 and 4, acts as a guard for the fingers of the operator when spreading the material prior to same passing between the rollers.

A gulde roller. i, see Figures 3 and 4,

f drivenby means .of a chain 25 see Figure 2,

from a second sprocket wheel t secured on theshaftof roller 71 serves to feed the material over the. dead platen to theconstantly driy en. rollers (1,0 a .Gruiding pieces 00 are secured tosaid plate u.

To effect the positive arrestment of the intermittently driven feed rollers b, b, 6 whenever the projections g clear the star wheels Z, Z a cam operated finger 4) co-acts with the star wheel Z as shown in Figures 5 and 6 wherein said finger 4) forms part of the rock ng lever secured to. a stud v and operated, by the cam. This cam is in two portions 10 and Q0 which are adjustable with respect to each other so that the contour thereof can be varied, nuts 102 securing the parts rigidly in position. A bowl 10 carried by lever o co-acts with the contour of the cam. Said cam w, w is preferablyprovided with a guide member or surface 10 arranged to co-act with the bowl and positively force same into the depression in the cam surface and thereby-positively raise the finger out of. engagement with the star wheel.

' The chain dotted lines, Figure 5, show the finger in the latterposition. Alternatively a helical spring (not shown) secured to said rocking lever and to-thegable 0 maybe provided to actuate the finger against the action of the cam. One side of each tooth of the star wheel Z is cut to form a flat surface with which the finger can cuoperate.

Said cam is driven by means of a spur wheel .2, see Figures 1 and 4, fast on the shaft of delivery roller a and which meshes with a spur wheel .2 carried by a stud e Fastened to the spur wheel 2 is a pinion which meshes with a spur wheel .2 to which is secured the said cam.'

In operation the fiber is placed on the travelling band 7, see Figure 3, passes below the roller 25 and then passes to the feed rollers 7), 6 Z9 the roller r? serving to guide the fiber between the main feed roller Z) and H upper feed roller 6 of. this group. The fiber is then delivered to the dead plate u and then to the delivery rollersa, a a the small roller 25 aiding the fiber in its passage to and over the said plate.

In Figure 3 the material is indicated passing through the machine.

This passage of the fiber between the feed rollers 7), 7J 7J1, only takes placewhen the latter are driven by the projections q coacting with and driving the star wheels Z, P. lVhenever the projections clear the star wheels the feed rollers are no longer driven but are positively arrested by'the said finger The de- The broken or torn fiber the an roan-s a, a, m d remains,

passing the chain 0 around the other side-cf position.

the idle sprocket wheel m as'indicated in chain dotted lines Figure 1, said projections will. engage with the previous tecth 9 ot' the star wheels thereby rotating the latter to a correspondingly greater extent and breakmg the fiber into longer lengths. The idle sprocket wheel a is adjusted in the slot a in gable c to take up the slack of the chain,

altering the position of the idle wheel m 'ln its slot m in gable c and transferring idle wheel a to the other vertical slot at in gable 0 the projections Q can beinade to en gage the teeth 10 of the star wheels Z, Z and therefore rotate the feed rollers to a greater 1 extent with a consequent increase in the length of the fiber broken or torn. The 'i'ull lines Flgure 7 indicate the position, of the wheels m and n and the chain in this third By moving the wheel m still farther along its slot as shown in. chain dotted lines Figure 7 the projections can be made to engage the teeth 11 of the star wheels and thereby further increase the length of'the broken or torn fiber.

It will be understood that with each of such adjustments a corresponding adjustmentmust bermade in the cam 711,10 by altering the relative position of the cam members so that the cam operates to raise the finger clear ofthe star wheel just prior to the projections co-acting therewith and also to again ilower the finger to positively.

stop the rotation of the feed'rollers when they cease to be driven.

The gearing whereby the rollers are driven may be altered'to give a greater or smaller output of broken pieces per minute by substituting a greater or smaller spur wheel for the spur wheel F, the stud 7 being accommodated in a slot 7' in gable c to enable such adjustment to be effected The supporting brackets 12 for the ends of the shafts of rollers a and b and shown in Figures 1 and 7 are omitted in Figure 4, for the purpose of clearness,

What I claim 1s 1. A machine of the character described comprising two groups of rollers, gearing for driving one group of rollers'continuously, an endless flexible band arranged to intermittently drive the other group of driven. 2.In a machi e? ot f the character "d'e combinat on with two groups 6- with the teeth 8 of the to intermittently co-act with and stop the rotation thereof when not beby said chain,'a star queeg e sans-a ptsjiffivelyffs op tat'ion of'th'e' latter group; when 11:01? bti ng scribed, the p V x p of rollers, of gear ng for; cont nuouslydriving onegroupof frollers, an endless chain, gearing for driving said cliain' continuousl'y, a'projectioncarried by'said chain, a star'wheel with which said" projection interinittently cobperates and operatively con:

nected tothe second group of rollers and means for positivelystopping the rotation oft-he second group of rollers when not being driven. i 3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with two groups of rollers,

of gearing for continuously driving one group of rollers, an endless chain, gearing for drivingsaid chain continuously, a projection carried by said'chain, a star wheel with which said projection intermittently co-operates and operatively connected to the second group ofrollers, a finger arranged ing driven and a camto operate said finger. 4. In a machine of the class described, the combmation with two groups of rollers,

of gearing for driving one group continuously, an endless chain having driving means therefor, ad ustable idle sprocketv wheels for said chain, a pro ection carried nected to the second means for positively arresting the. operation of the second group of rollers when not being driven.

5. Ina machine of the character de scribed, the combination.

with two groups of rollers, of gearing for driving the one group continuously, an endless chain, gear ing for driving said chain,[adjustable idle sprocket wheels for said chain, a projectron carried by said chain, a. star wheel with which said projection co-operates' and operatively connected to, the second group of rollers, a finger arranged to intermittently co-act withsaidv star Wheel to stop the rotation thereof. and'a cam tocintermittently operate said finger. V V I 6. A machine of the class described comprising two groups ofrollers, an endless chain drive a. projection carried by said chain, a star wheel operatively connected tothe one group of rollers and with which said projection intermittently co-acts and means for positively stopping the rotation" of said last mentioned when not being driven.

machine of the character described comprising supporting gables,

two groups of rollers. extending between gearing for continuously driving the one said star wheel wheel with which said projection co-operates and operatively con-Q group of rollers, and

group of rollers f said gables,

lit).

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group of rollers, an endless chain driven by said gearing, idle adjustable guide sprocket wheels for said chain, a projection carried by said chain, a starwheel operatively connected to the other group of rollers and with which said projection intermittently co-acts and rotates, a finger arranged to intermittently coact with and stop said star wheel and a cam driven by said gearing to operate said finger. V

' 8. A machine of the class described comprising supporting gables two groups of rollers extending between said gables, gearing for continuously driving one group of rollers, an endless chain driven by said gearing, an idle adjustable guide sprocket wheel for said chain, a. projection carried by said chain, a star wheel operatively connected to the other group of rollers and with which said projection intermittently co-acts and rotates, a finger arranged to intermittently co-act with and stop said star wheel, a. cam driven bysaid gearing to operate saidrfinger, an endless feed belt "for delivering material to the intermittently driven rollers, and a second endless belt to deliver the torn or broken material from the continuously driven group of rollers.

JAMES KNOX. 

